Chapter 110: Chapter One Hundred and Ten

110. Chapter One Hundred and Ten

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She thought absently that this heart-to-heart connection made her scalp tingle, like someone peeking into her thoughts, or like a confidant pouring out their heart to her—either way, it was irresistible.

At this moment, no matter who came to her side, the only outcome would be a fight. So when she saw Bai Xinli's figure appear outside the door, she was overjoyed.

The Bai Xinli spoken of by Lord and Lady Bai.

The Bai Xinli she hadn't seen in fifteen years.

The Bai Xinli who had changed her Fate.

The Bai Xinli who could suppress her completely with a single glance.

Too strong, too strong, too strong.

Too wonderful, too wonderful, too wonderful!

She was going to draw her Sword against Bai Xinli!!

Atian knew she was going mad.

A lucid madness.

But what of it?

She was born destined never to be a well-behaved, rule-following good girl—what was wrong with a little madness?

The sword hilt in her hand went from cool to warm, two patches of blush crept onto her cheeks. Lady Bai, who had devoted herself to cultivating Atian into a proper lady, certainly wouldn't have spent money hiring a martial instructor for her. Those fighting moves of hers were all street brawling tricks—she couldn't even clench her fist properly, let alone wield a weapon.

But for a Sword Cultivator, the least necessary thing to learn was how to hold a sword—something innate, who would need to be taught it?

Bai Tian, naturally, was the same.

The moment Bai Xinli said "Junior Sister Bai, please," she stabbed out with a backhanded thrust without thinking. Flames gathered on the pitch-black sword body, forming a vortex, and the sword tip pointed straight at Bai Xinli's heart.

Her sword hand was steady, the sword body was steady, the thrust accurate and forceful, as if she had practiced it thousands upon thousands of times. Even the slight sideways spin of the sword tip gave a feeling of exquisite precision.

This was what it meant to be a Sword Cultivator—they were born for the sword.

However, Sword Cultivators too had their high and low.

That sword thrust was stopped a few inches from Bai Xinli's chest by an invisible wall. The moon-white hair ribbon covered his vision and hid his expression, but Atian guessed he must look, as he had that day, as pure and lofty as the bright moon in the sky.

Then, she was sent flying by a powerful shockwave.

Slammed heavily against the wall behind her, Atian slid down to the ground. A tearing pain shot from the tiger's mouth of her right hand, a sticky liquid welled up from it and dripped down along the sword hilt.

It hurt.

An unprecedented pain swept in from her back, instantly engulfing her five viscera and six bowels, churning them into a mess. Yet she wanted to laugh out loud, even her fingers trembling slightly with excitement.

Bai Xinli hadn't drawn his sword, he hadn't even moved—his protective Sword Qi alone had given her a brutal show of force.

She, to Bai Xinli, was like Song Zhicheng to her—a mayfly shaking a tree, not worth mentioning. But偏偏, 偏偏, this was exactly right!

Her Sword Bone was Completed, yet Song Zhicheng's had only just sprouted.

Bai Xinli had achieved success in Sword Cultivation, while she hadn't even entered the door.

Song Zhicheng wanted to become her, and she wanted to become Bai Xinli.

And what was wrong with that?

Bai Tian, trembling, used her sword to haul herself up, shook off the blood droplets clinging to her right hand, and beamed brilliantly at Bai Xinli. "Again!"

She thrust out another sword, faster and more cunning than the last, yet the flames still couldn't pierce the invisible barrier, and once again she crashed heavily to the ground.

"Haha..." She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her left hand, then raised her sword. "Again!"

It went without saying that what awaited her was being sent flying once more.

Atian used her sword to prop herself up. Her white underclothes were already dotted with red plum blossoms, yet she laughed brightly and said: "Again!"

Again and again she raised her sword, again and again she was sent flying. In the end, the blood on her hand made her unable to grip the sword, and the hilt slipped from her palm. Her body was wrapped in searing pain, no longer able to carry out her brain's commands. She leaned against the wall like that, and gave a shy smile to Bai Xinli, who was gradually approaching.

As if to prevent her from recklessly charging at him again, Bai Xinli extended one hand and gently pressed his index finger against her forehead. His body temperature was slightly cool, out of place in this room filled with flames.

And Atian, after catching her breath for a moment, slowly reached out; her drooping fingertips traced across his chest, leaving a red mark on his moon-white clothes.

"Ah, I stabbed you." Atian said with a beaming smile.

Before she lost consciousness, she seemed to hear Bai Xinli sigh.

When Atian woke again, she was still in her own room, except now she was lying in bed. Everything around her was as usual; only the scorch marks on the walls and ceiling, and the pain across her body, proved that the raging flames had not been a dream.

"You're awake."

Su Ying, sitting by the bed, frowned at the bronze mirror in her hand. She had recently felt a fine line appearing under her eyes and was terribly troubled by it, though given her true age, a face full of wrinkles would be the norm.

"Does it hurt? Good, it serves you right—let it teach you a lesson! Challenging Senior Brother, you really don't value your life!"

Su Ying didn't even look up, but that didn't stop her from lecturing.

"Speaking of which, I heard the commotion you caused last night was no small matter. Luckily I was on night duty, otherwise the one facing you last night would have been me. I don't have Senior Brother's ability, I might not have been able to subdue you."

Finding her Life-bound Sword at the head of the bed, Atian reached out and touched it before feeling a little reassured. She also felt a chill on her chest, looked down, and found she was wearing only a single thin garment.

"Eek!" She shrieked and burrowed into the blankets.

"Eek what," Su Ying put down the mirror, her tone carrying an irrepressible note of schadenfreude. "Last night you were wearing this very outfit, clinging to Senior Brother and refusing to let him leave—what's the use of being shy now!"

"A proper lady must be shy." Atian earnestly retorted.

Su Ying was impressed by her professionalism, and with deep emotion handed her a bronze mirror. "Wake up! I've never seen a proper lady who drags a man into a duel in the middle of the night and sets fires!"

Atian rubbed her struck forehead, feeling a little wronged.

"Speaking of which, helping Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters through the agitation brought on by sword-forging is also one of Senior Brother's duties, so you needn't feel bad about it."

"Agitation?" Atian, who felt no guilt whatsoever, repeated thoughtfully.

"A sword is a weapon of death. Once it leaves its sheath, the desire to fight will inevitably surge, and since your Life-bound Sword is intimately tied to you, being affected is unavoidable."

Su Ying explained seriously.

"A sword is sharpest the moment it leaves its sheath, relying entirely on an unstoppable sharpness of spirit. If we hadn't let you vent that sharpness completely at the time, I'm afraid your Sword Heart would have been damaged in the future."

Atian was too embarrassed to tell her Senior Sister that she was usually just this crazy herself, so she could only nod vigorously to show she was listening.

"Since you've already succeeded in forging your sword, there are some things I have to tell you," Su Ying said, her tone suddenly turning solemn. "Have you felt it? Your Sword Heart. Do you know it? Your Sword Name?"

The Sword Heart and the Sword Name — the two most important things for a Sword Cultivator.

Bai Tian gently stroked the longsword in her hand, yet her mouth brought up an entirely unrelated topic. "... Senior Sister Su Ying, Senior Brother, he's really strong."

"Why bring that up all of a sudden?" Su Ying knitted her brows.

Atian laughed. "Because I also want to become that strong!"

Su Ying fell silent at those words. She thought for a moment, then finally sat on the edge of the bed with her legs spread wide in a bold, manly posture, and said to Bai Tian, "Junior Sister Bai, do you know what Senior Brother's sword is called?"

Atian thought of the beautiful red-threaded White Jade Sword worn at Bai Xinli's waist, and shook her head.

"Senior Brother's sword... is called 'Selfless,'" Su Ying's face was utterly solemn. "Of the three thousand Daos, all dharmas are selfless — that is what this 'Selfless' means."

"The reason Senior Brother has been praised as 'the person of the younger generation closest to the Heavenly Dao' lies precisely in this. What others pursue for a lifetime, he obtained from the very start. But the higher the starting point, the harder the road ahead."

"How can one hold 'Selfless' in proper measure? Losing oneself plunges one into eternal calamity; being too much oneself means one cannot take a single step forward — the Sword Heart falls. The hardship and suffering within this, perhaps only he himself knows."

"I have already almost forgotten Bai Xinli."

That sentence Atian had puzzled over endlessly echoed in her ears.

At this point, a bitter smile appeared at the corner of Su Ying's mouth. "Speaking of which, I'm actually a few years older than Senior Brother's mother. I raised him from childhood, but ever since he began nurturing his sword and sheathing its edge, even I can't really understand him anymore."

However, the self-pitying mood didn't last long. Su Ying Senior Sister, who could never help breaking character, indignantly slapped the bedhead. "That stinky little brat, hiding things from his motherly Senior Sister me — he really has no filial piety! It's simply outrageous!"

Atian nodded her head like a chick pecking at grain.

After calming her emotions, Su Ying switched the form of address back again. "A Sword Cultivator cannot choose their own Sword Heart, nor can they change their own true heart. Even though this path is ten thousand times difficult to walk, Senior Brother can only press forward in spite of the difficulty."

"What I'm saying all this for is to let you know — if you want to be as strong as Senior Brother, I'm afraid you can only — press forward in spite of the difficulty."

"On the Immortal Path of cultivation, there are no shortcuts. Only by keeping faith with your true heart and comprehending the Great Dao can one fight out an Immortal Path from among the thousands upon thousands!"

As she spoke, her brows and eyes softened.

"I'll ask you one more time — what is your Sword Name?"

"Ten Thousand Calamities," Atian also smiled. "Through ten thousand tribulations, only then can one find beginning and end."

She tilted her head, and her fair, beautiful face at this moment actually looked somewhat innocent and carefree.